MANILA, Philippines - The number of foreign criminals and fugitives arrested in the Philippines reached 659 in 2013, the Bureau of Immigration revealed.

In a statement on Thursday, BI Commissioner Siegfred Mison said that the number of foreign criminals nabbed in the country climbed 40 percent last year with 80 additional arrests.

Mison said that since only 49 criminals were arrested in 2012, last year's leap was due to the agency's drive to step up its campaign to nab and deport illegal foreigners.

The suspects were accused of having involvement in forgery and extortion, cybercrime, pornography or sexual conducts, and financial crimes such as fraud and theft.

The Immigration chief explained that the fugitives were apprehended based on the strength of warrants, mission order and interception. A few also voluntarily surrendered.

Topping the list of foreign nationals nabbed in the country are Koreans with 34 arrested, whose cases range from forgery, drugs-related crimes to heinous acts such as murder.

Included in the number is South Korea's "most wanted fugitive" Cho Yang Eun, accused of masterminding several financial crimes, Mison said.

Mison said the 63-year-old Korean was collared after leaving a casino in Angeles, Pampanga. Cho was wanted for a string of estafa cases including the use of spurious documents to obtain a $2 million loan from a savings bank.

Koreans were followed by 23 Chinese, 19 Americans, three Japanese and two Germans.